133 million suffer from so-called “bad cholesterol” in the In the EU’s five biggest countries – Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the UK -, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). Overall, Europe is the continent with the highest prevalence of the chronic disease, latest statistics show.

• Europe has the highest prevalence of high cholesterol in the world, with 54% for both men and women.
• High cholesterol or ‘bad’ cholesterol contributes to 2.6 million deaths per year, worldwide.
• The main causes for high cholesterol are both an unhealthy lifestyle and/or genes.

External links

• World Health Organisation (WHO): Cholesterol
• Nature Magazine: Cholesterol linked with type 2 diabetes